American Beauty | Fork Lift | A Blog for Food, Fun, and Drink

Fork Lift A Blog for Food, Fun, and Drink

American Beauty

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Last week, I had to suppress a little smile when I read of the passing of one fashion’s most iconic personalities, Eileen Ford.

Eileen had been one of my customers, and I have to tell you, she was a real hot ticket. Think of your favorite aunt, who you had an immediate bond with…someone who was a little mischievous and fun to be around. That was Eileen.

We met in the 80's, when Eileen and her husband were staying at the Ritz and had walked over to our restaurant, which was then in the Park Plaza Hotel. We hit it off immediately…there were no pretenses with this woman. As luck would have it, Robert Wagner had stopped in that evening with his daughter and her roommate, both college freshmen. They were all in the lounge waiting for a table, and the daughter was said to be “drop-dead gorgeous.” I mentioned this to Eileen, who was already seated in the dining room, and she said “Well, I've got to see this daughter of his.” So she and I went up to the steps to the lounge, where she could get a better view. “Look at him,” she said (referring to Wagner), “walking back and forth preening like a peacock, so that all will notice him. Wow, I can see Natalie Wood in that girl...I've got to introduce myself.” At that point I left Eileen to her own devices, and went back to the dining room.

About 20 minutes later, I stopped back to the Ford's table - ostensibly to check on their meal, but really to see if Eileen had been able to sign Wagner’s daughter. “Roger,” she said, “you won't believe this, but the Natalie Wood look-alike is the roommate! Beautiful, and with brains to match! Absolutely no interest in modeling, but took my card to be nice.”